Washington — U.S. troops captured two senior al-Qaida fighters and confiscated their computers and cell phones near a huge underground cave complex used by Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, the nation's top general said Tuesday.
The discoveries in eastern Afghanistan came as U.S. forces were wrapping up operations in Tora Bora and focusing on Zawar Kili, the complex used as a training camp and assembly point for possible movement from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
The two men, found late Monday in a group of 14 suspected members of al-Qaida, were deemed sufficiently important to be removed immediately to the U.S.-run detention center in Kandahar, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers said at a Pentagon briefing.
Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's commander, said clues to the pair's importance included "the way that they carried themselves, their language skill and that sort of thing." Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, spoke on PBS' "NewsHour."
Besides the computers and phones, "some small arms and training documents were also found," Myers said. "We're exploiting those as we speak."
American warplanes have struck repeatedly at the cave complex and at other areas around Khost in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province. U.S. special forces teams are on the ground in that area, where a Green Beret soldier was killed in an ambush Friday.
As U.S. forces sweep through the area, they have found a large network of buildings, bunkers and a warren of underground caves, Myers said.
"We have found this complex to be very, very extensive. It covers a large area. When we ask people how large, they often describe it as huge," the four-star Air Force general said.
U.S. bombers struck a cache of tanks and weaponry in the area on Sunday. They launched two new strikes on additional buildings and bunkers found nearby late Monday, Myers said.
On Tuesday, Afghan officials considered a reported surrender offer from several top Taliban figures, including their former defense and justice ministers.
There were conflicting reports on the status of the negotiations. Commander Sadozai, a high-ranking security official in Kandahar, said Gov. Gul Agha and others were meeting late Tuesday to decide how to handle former Taliban officials if they give themselves up.
By other accounts, officials of the interim government already have granted ex-Taliban ministers a general amnesty, allowing them to go free unless they are accused of a specific crime. In Kabul, Intelligence Ministry officials and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday night they could not confirm anyone had surrendered.
In other developments:
Pakistan, a staunch supporter of the Taliban prior to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, announced it would establish diplomatic relations with Afghanistan's interim government next week.
International aid agencies said 4,000 people returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan last weekend.
The former king of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zaher Shah, intends to return to his homeland from exile in Italy before the end of March, said an aide to the monarch. He plans to convene a grand national assembly, or loya jirga, on June 22, charged with creating a new government for the country he ruled for 40 years until his ouster in 1973.
In Kandahar, a wounded al-Qaida fighter blew himself up during an escape attempt after leaping from the second story of a hospital where he and six armed comrades have been holed up for a month.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.